The Best Cheap Sous Vide Cookers For Sale on Amazon in 2019

Sous vide is a method of cooking that translates to "under vacuum" in French.

There are different styles of sous vide cooking, but they all have one thing in common: Food is slow-cooked underwater. If done properly, foods that are easy-to-overcook (like eggs, chicken and steak) are brought to a high-enough temperature to kill bacteria, yet remain tender and moist.

The most popular sous vide cookers are immersion circulators. These joystick-like devices control the temperature and flow of water within a pot. Food needs to be sealed in an airtight container before it can be cooked in a hot water bath.

Many people use vacuum-sealed plastic bags or evacuated Ziploc bags as a one-time way to cook sous vide. Reusable silicone bags are another option; they must be cleaned and sterilized after each use (to prevent bacterial contamination).

Is sous vide safe? I can't say. Scientists have concluded that sous vide produces meat that has "increased tenderness and better appearance," but there isn't much research on how microbes respond to low cooking-temperatures or whether the chemicals released by plastic bags are toxic. Luckily, glass jars or pyrex dishes are an alternative way to seal food while cooking.

Here are the best-reviewed sous vide cookers that have sold for $100 or less in the last 12 months:

Wancle's sous vide cooker is well-built and easy to use, according to several Amazon customers. Many reviewers (even happy ones) say this cooker's time and temperature controls are too sensitive and that the included instructions are poor. Overall, this cooker gets praise for its simplicity and some appreciate that this cooker is not a smart/WiFi appliance.

This sous vide cooker is quiet, heats quickly and holds the temperature of the water, according to several Amazon customers who were happy to have a manual cooker rather than an Internet-connected one. Some reviewers found this cooker's instructions to be confusing; others complained that their cooker made a buzzing sound.

I didn't include Anova's Nano Cooker in this list because a large percentage of customers reported issues with the cooker's WiFi connectivity. Anova makes a Bluetooth-only version of the Nano cooker, but that model only has a fraction of the user reviews that the WiFi model has.